Romance Romance

Product Notes

Land Lovers were 1 fool making his longed-for pop \'masterpiece\' in a bedroom. When that was done, he played it to anyone who\'d listen and now they\'re a band of 4 to 5 brigands taking that music to the baying masses of the EU, all the meantime preparing more gems together. They mix abrasive guitars with luscious synths, and frame cynical lyrics with gentle shimmies reminiscent of some golden age or other. Indulge me: if Luke Haines and Stephen Merritt wrote lyrics for the young Elvis Costello, who was fronting Wolf Parade after a voicebox transplant, they might sound completely different to Land Lovers, but they\'d be trying to do the same thing. \'Romance Romance\' is the first Land Lovers album. It was imagined as a primary-colored, instantly recognizable pop record with lyrics subordinate to pure melody, but there were some twists along the way. Beneath it's fist-pumping chorus, \'No. 1 Communiqué\' carries a simultaneously fond and gently mocking take on youthful idealism. Beyond it's 80s synth bluster, \'Hildegart, No\' concerns itself with the nightmare existence of a child prodigy\'s neglected toys. Several songs deal with the emotional investment we make in pieces of land, epitomised by the heroes of the title track who, though appalled by the romantic nationalism all around them, find refuge in something manifestly similar. All the same, it remains a pop album and the melodies flow easily throughout. It is short, at 34 minutes, and acts as a generous invitation into the Land Lovers\' world.

Land Lovers were 1 fool making his longed-for pop \'masterpiece\' in a bedroom. When that was done, he played it to anyone who\'d listen and now they\'re a band of 4 to 5 brigands taking that music to the baying masses of the EU, all the meantime preparing more gems together. They mix abrasive guitars with luscious synths, and frame cynical lyrics with gentle shimmies reminiscent of some golden age or other. Indulge me: if Luke Haines and Stephen Merritt wrote lyrics for the young Elvis Costello, who was fronting Wolf Parade after a voicebox transplant, they might sound completely different to Land Lovers, but they\'d be trying to do the same thing. \'Romance Romance\' is the first Land Lovers album. It was imagined as a primary-colored, instantly recognizable pop record with lyrics subordinate to pure melody, but there were some twists along the way. Beneath it's fist-pumping chorus, \'No. 1 Communiqué\' carries a simultaneously fond and gently mocking take on youthful idealism. Beyond it's 80s synth bluster, \'Hildegart, No\' concerns itself with the nightmare existence of a child prodigy\'s neglected toys. Several songs deal with the emotional investment we make in pieces of land, epitomised by the heroes of the title track who, though appalled by the romantic nationalism all around them, find refuge in something manifestly similar. All the same, it remains a pop album and the melodies flow easily throughout. It is short, at 34 minutes, and acts as a generous invitation into the Land Lovers\' world.